ITV

Tag: NDTV 24×7

  • NDTV launches channels on StarHub TV

    NDTV launches channels on StarHub TV

    MUMBAI: India’s leading News broadcaster entered Singapore on 18 October with two of its premium channels, NDTV 24×7 and NDTV Good Times showcasing on StarHub TV

    NDTV 24×7 is a 24hour English language news and infotainment channel with news from India and around the world now available in over 78 countries. NDTV Good Times, India’s first travel & lifestyle channel, is for global viewers keen to experience and explore the Indian lifestyle. Be it food, travel, wellness, shopping or just plain indulgence, it is India’s everyday lifestyle expert.

    Speaking on the occasion, Rohit Jaiswal, Associate Vice President, Network Distribution and Affiliate Sales, NDTV, said, “We are very pleased to announce the launch of our channels on StarHub TV. Like in other parts of the world, our channels, which are now available in over 78 countries, will aid Indian expatriates and everyone else who has an interest in India keep abreast with a constantly evolving India.”

    “We are pleased that India’s leading broadcaster, New Delhi Television, has chosen StarHub TV as its preferred platform to showcase their premium channels to the Singapore audience. The addition of NDTV 24×7 and NDTV Good Times will strengthen StarHub TV’s Indian content line-up by offering more entertainment choices for our customers. NDTV 24×7 will help our viewers stay informed with round-the-clock news updates from award-winning newscasters, whilst lifestyle-centric channel NDTV Good Times will cater to viewers with a keen interest in Indian fashion, travel, food and wellness”, said Ms Lee Soo Hui, Head of Media Business Unit, StarHub.

    The channels are also available on StarHub TV Anywhere via www.starhubtvanywhere.com. TV Anywhere is StarHub’s multiscreen solution which allows StarHub TV customers to watch their favorite TV channels on their subscription plan using their personal devices.

  • BBC world news continues to lead as Indias top international news channel

    BBC world news continues to lead as Indias top international news channel

    MUMBAI : BBC World News has maintained its status as the leading international English news channel in India among the country’s affluent, influential opinion leaders, business decision makers (BDMs) and frequent international travellers, according to the latest Ipsos PAX survey.

    BBC World News also beats India’s domestic news channels to take the number one spot for all news channels amongst influential opinion leaders, BDMs, and frequent international travellers.
    The channel reached these positions by beating competitors including CNN, CNBC TV18, NDTV 24×7, Times Now, CNN-IBN and Bloomberg TV India.

    The BBC – including BBC World News and BBC.com – is the only news brand across TV, online and mobile to show quarter on quarter growth. 

    Other findings show:

     

    •    The BBC is the #1 news brand in India among household car owners, luxury goods owners, BDMs and frequent international travellers.

    •    BBC World News is the fastest growing international news channel among India’s affluent, quarter on quarter. 

    •    BBC World News saw growth across key demographics including luxury goods owners, personal investors, first or business class international leisure travellers, influential opinion leaders and BDMs.

    Jim Egan, CEO of BBC Global News Ltd, said: “We are delighted that BBC World News and BBC.com continue to lead the competition in a crucial market. Once again our ability to reach this highly-desirable, upscale target audience is unmatched.”

  • NDTV open to strategic investor in NDTV Profit

    NDTV open to strategic investor in NDTV Profit

    MUMBAI: NDTV is open to unloading stake in its business news channel NDTV Profit to a strategic investor as it plans to streamline its financial resources and expand in a tough economic environment.

    No progress, however, has been made so far after exploratory talks halted with an overseas investor months back.

    The company is not in dialogue with Indian news outfits such as Zee News Ltd and TV Today Network to get rid of NDTV Profit.

    “We are not going to entirely sell NDTV Profit. We are looking at a minority strategic investor if it comes at the right value. We are not in talks with Zee or TV Today,” an official in NDTV said.

    Any dilution of stake will involve hiving off of NDTV Profit from NDTV Ltd, the company that houses NDTV 24×7, NDTV India and NDTV India.

    “We haven’t started that process as it is needed only after we have finalised our partner. We have not reached that stage yet,” said the official. 

    NDTV has not given the mandate to anybody to find an investor. Ernst & Young was consulted to recommend restructuring of operations and cost-cutting proposals.

    “We have already carried out some of these recommendations,” the official said.

    NDTV has carried out several course-correction measures including getting out of loss-making projects. Along with joint venture partner Kasturi and Sons Limited (the publishers of Hindu newspaper), it recently exited from the loss-making city-centric English language channel in Chennai. Earlier, NDTV had sold its stake in NDTV Imagine, the Hindi entertainment business, to Turner International.

    NDTV had, in fact, cleaned up its huge pile of debt through these sale transactions. The company’s borrowings stood at Rs 2.05 billion, according to data till 31 March 2012.

    “Digitisation will drastically reduce our distribution costs. Our financials will look much more healthier,” the official said.

    For the fiscal ended March 2012, NDTV narrowed its net loss to Rs 191.5 million from Rs 986.3 million a year earlier. In the first quarter of 2011-12, it reported net loss of Rs 227.1 million against a net profit of Rs 98.1 million a year earlier.

    Meanwhile, Zee has clarified that it is not in talks with NDTV to buy out NDTV Profit. “Some recent press reports have reported that Zee is one of the front-runners to buy NDTV Profit. We would like to categorically deny this news which is false and state that there are no such discussions taking place between Zee and NDTV Profit,” said Essel Group head – group finance and strategy Himanshu Mody.

    Zee News Ltd, which runs a clutch of Hindi and regional-language channels, is planning to launch an English news channel.

    Media analysts feel the acquisition of NDTV Profit may not be in the best interests of TV Today. “The company is too heavily dependent on its flagship Hindi general news channel Aaj Tak. It has to focus on turning around its other loss-making channels. TV Today has also made an investment of Rs 455 million in the loss-making Mail Today and its cash reserves are depleted. The investment of Aditya Birla Group in the parent company, Living Media India, will give TV Today an indirect boost to expand on its strong TV news franchise,” an analyst at a broking firm said.

    For the yet ended 31 March 2012, TV Today reported a net profit of Rs 105.24 million, down from Rs 124.24 million a year earlier, while in the first quarter of 2012-13, its net profit was sharply lower at Rs 10.08 million against Rs 166.44 million a year ago.

    For NDTV, finding a strategic investor for just the business news channel will be a tough task. “If the news business is sold combined, it will be very attractive. But the question is whether the promoters will want that,” a media analyst said.

    NDTV’s lifestyle business is already operationally profitable. NDTV Lifestyle Holdings, in which Astro is an equity partner, runs a successful channel, NDTV Good Times.

    “Once digitisation picks up, we will be launching niche channels under the lifestyle genre. It is a growing genre and we are doing well in that space,” said the official.

  • NDTV limits news biz net loss to Rs 23.9 mn in Q3

    NDTV limits news biz net loss to Rs 23.9 mn in Q3

    MUMBAI: Dr Prannoy Roy-promoted NDTV Ltd’s television news channel business has posted a net loss of Rs 23.9 million for the quarter ended 31 December. This is against a standalone net loss of Rs 170.8 million the company had posted during the year-ago period.

    NDTV, which operates news channels NDTV 24X7 (English), NDTV India (Hindi) and NDTV Profit (English business), saw a marginal increase in the income from operations (4.24 per cent) to Rs 1.01 billion as against Rs 964.8 million a year ago.

    Expenses stayed flat at Rs 997.7 million (from Rs 972.2 million a year ago).

    The company posted a profit from operations (before other income, interest & exceptional items) of Rs 23.9 million, as against loss of Rs 2.5 million during the year ago period.

    On a consolidated basis, NDTV has posted a net loss of Rs 60.5 million, as against a net loss of Rs 148.4 million in the year-ago period.

    Operating loss of the company narrowed to Rs 39.8 million from Rs 72.8 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

    Income from operations stood at Rs 1.26 billion, up from Rs 1.14 billion a year ago. Expenses during the quarter were Rs 1.30 billion, up from Rs 1.22 billion.

  • Anna obsession boosts TV news channels

    Anna obsession boosts TV news channels

    MUMBAI: Anna Hazare’s indefinite hunger strike has not only created a stir among the political class and the common man but has also gripped the news industry. The obsession is so complete that the news television channels have forgotten about the existence of other news.

    Anna’s movement against corruption hogged the limelight, occupying 88.5 per cent of primetime content on news channels for the period between 16-24 August, according to data from Centre For Media Studies’ TV news monitoring division CMS Media Lab.

    The data consists of total per day news average of four channels – NDTV 24X7, CNN-IBN, Star News and Aaj Tak.

    Among these channels, Star News gave maximum footage to Anna’s fast –97.1 per cent or 1,310 minutes in the week; its focus on other news was just 2.9 per cent.

    On Aaj Tak, news coverage on Anna was as high as 92.2 per cent, while 7.8 per cent was other news. NDTV 24X7 and CNN-IBN gave 85 and 81 per cent of their primetime to Anna’s cause.

    Interestingly, on 24 August all the four channels aired news related to Anna only and no other news was covered, CMS Media Lab’s data revealed.

    The whole news genre, which is under tremendous revenue stress, has seen a dramatic rise in viewership, thanks to Anna. As per TAM data for the week ended 20 August, the genre share of Hindi news channels has seen an 87 per cent jump in the viewership, while the English news genre saw a boost of 74 per cent.

    In the Hindi speaking market (HSM), the share of Hindi news genre grew to 11.02 per cent compared to 5.9 per cent in the preceding week.

    The genre share of English news channels stood at 0.54 per cent, as against 0.31 per cent in the trailing week.

    TAM data also suggests that not just more people viewed the news channels but they watched it longer. The average daily time spent on Hindi news channels increased to 16.9 minutes from 8.5 minutes in the HSM. The time spent on English news channels rose to 0.72 minute (from 0.30 minute earlier) at a pan India level.

  • NDTV beats market forecast, Q4 revenue up 25%

    NDTV beats market forecast, Q4 revenue up 25%

    MUMBAI: News broadcaster NDTV has beaten market expectations as it posted a 25 per cent jump in its fourth-quarter income over the earlier year and has forecast a turnaround in the full-fiscal ended 31 March 2012.

    Though the news business has posted a fourfold rise in net loss for the quarter ended 31 March 2011, this is due to a one-time expense of Rs 293.8 million incurred on account of NDTV Hindu, a news-cum-infotainment channel for Chennai.

    The company, which runs news channels NDTV 24X7 and NDTV India, has posted a standalone net loss of Rs 231.8 million for the fourth quarter compared to a net loss of Rs 46.3 million in the prior year.   
         
      “We made a provision of Rs 293.8 million for our investments in NDTV Hindu in the quarter. Our losses are showing a rise because of this,” said NDTV Group CEO KVL Narayan Rao. NDTV Hindu, a joint venture between NDTV and the Hindu Group, was launched in 2009.

    Income from operations for the quarter under review stood at Rs 1.08 billion, as against Rs 865 million in the year-ago period.

    The standalone profit from operations (before other income, interest & exceptional items) increased to Rs 97.1 million, from Rs 11.3 million a year ago.

    “We have had a healthy rise in our fourth quarter revenue from news business. This has been led by a change in the market and by a loaded news-events quarter such as the cricket World Cup, Budget and scams. We also believe that having a credible image has helped us in such an eventful quarter,” said Rao.

    Expenses from news operations rose 18 per cent to Rs 1.02 billion, from Rs 863.1 million.

    “We expect our news business to break-even this fiscal. Our costs will be stabilising over the next six months. We also expect to see revenue growth after our alliance with Star India,” said Rao.

    NDTV has handed over the ad sales of its news channels to Star India, effective 1 April, after it parted ways from Raj Nayak‘s Aidem Ventures.

    For the full fiscal, NDTV‘s standalone net loss jumped to Rs 986.3 million, from Rs 205.2 million in the earlier year. Income from operations stayed flat at Rs 3.47 billion (from Rs 3.49 billion).

    Expenses jumped 11.57 in FY‘11 and stood at Rs 3.96 billion as against Rs 3.55 billion in the prior fiscal.

    On a consolidated basis, NDTV posted a net loss of Rs 608 million for the quarter ended 31 March 2011, as against a net profit of Rs 2.13 billion a year ago. However, in the previous year, the company had managed to post profit on the back of Rs 3.37 billion which it received for selling its stake in NDTV Imagine. NDTV also clarified that the consolidated results for the quarter and year ended 31 March 2011 are not comparable with the corresponding previous period.

    Income form operations on a consolidated basis fell 6.52 per cent to Rs 1.32 billion, from Rs 1.41 billion, while total expenses reduced from Rs 2.54 billion to Rs 1.49 billion.

    For the fiscal ended 31 March 2011, NDTV posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 1.74 billion, as against a net profit of Rs 1.18 billion in the earlier year. Income from operations fell to Rs 4.19 billion, from Rs 5.90 billion in the year-ago period, while expenses reduced from Rs 8.94 billion to Rs 5.25 billion.

    “On a consolidated basis, we should be doing better in FY‘12. In the fourth quarter, NDTV Lifestyle has broken even while in the convergence segment we have posted a small profit. We have reasonable growth expectations in the current fiscal,” said Rao.

  • Merrill Lynch, Nomura Mauritius pick up 14.2% in NDTV for Rs 700 mn

    Merrill Lynch, Nomura Mauritius pick up 14.2% in NDTV for Rs 700 mn

    MUMBAI: Merrill Lynch and Nomura Mauritius have picked up 7.92 and 6.25 per cent stake respectively in the news broadcaster NDTV, paving the way for private equity firm DE Shaw to consolidate its holdings through these two transactions to 14.2 per cent for Rs 700 million.

    The two investment firms have picked up the shares on behalf of DE Shaw from the open market on NSE and BSE, according to market sources.

    Merrill Lynch picked up 5.1 million shares of NDTV from Goldman Sachs, which offloaded its entire stake for Rs 76.55 per share. Merrill Lynch has shelled our Rs 390.9 million for the transaction.
      
         
      Nomura Mauritius, on the other hand, has bought the shares from GS Mace Holdings, which exited NDTV by selling its 4 million shares for a total of 308.5 million.

    When contacted, NDTV Group CEO KVL Narayan Rao said he is not aware of DE Shaw taking stake in NDTV. “You can‘t expect us to comment on any transaction that is made in the open market where we are not involved,” Rao added.

    NDTV operates three news channels NDTV 24X7, NDTV India and NDTV Profit. It also runs a lifestyle channel, NDTV Good Times.

  • NDTV’s news biz posts net profit in Q3

    NDTV’s news biz posts net profit in Q3

    MUMBAI: Dr Prannoy Roy-promoted NDTV Ltd’s television news channel business has posted a net profit of Rs 29.8 million for the quarter ended 31 December. This is against a standalone net loss of Rs 16.5 million the company had posted during the year-ago period.

    The turnaoround into net profit is, however, without taking into account the merger of different subsidiaries into the company effective 1 April.

    With the merged subsidiaries, the company has suffered a net loss of Rs 170.8 million.

    NDTV said that in accordance with the scheme, it has given effect to the relevant accounting entries and the financial reorganisation and adjusted the debit balance of profit and loss account amounting to Rs 761.7 million against specified reserves.

    “Accordingly, the standalone results for the quarter include the results of operations of the transferor companies and hence are not comparable with the corresponding previous period,” the company said.  
         
      NDTV, which operates news channels NDTV 24X7 (English), NDTV India (Hindi) and NDTV Profit (English business), saw a marginal increase in the income from operations (6.61 per cent) to Rs 964.8 million as against Rs 905 million a year ago.

    Expenses stayed flat at 902.7 million (from Rs 903.7 million year ago).

    The company posted a profit from operations (before other income, interest & exceptional items) of Rs 111.9 million, as against profit of Rs 28.1 million during the year ago period.

    On a consolidated basis, NDTV has posted a net loss of Rs 148.4 million, as against a profit of Rs 741.1 million in the year-ago period.

    However, it clarified that the consolidated results for the quarter ended 31 December 2009 include the results of operations of Turner General Entertainment Networks India (formerly NDTV Imagine) and its subsidiaries in which NDTV had diluted its holding to a minority stake on 23 February 2010. The consolidated result for the quarter, thus, is not comparable with the corresponding previous period.

    Operating loss of the company narrowed to Rs 72.8 million from Rs 525.7 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. (NDTV had gained Rs 1.28 billion on the buyback amount which got reflected in the other income).

    Income from operations stood at Rs 1.14 billion, down from Rs 1.67 billion a year ago. Expenses during the quarter were Rs 1.22 billion, down from Rs 2.22 billion.

  • NDTV Q2 net loss widens as revenue slips

    NDTV Q2 net loss widens as revenue slips

    MUMBAI: NDTV has widened its second-quarter net loss from the news business as revenue has slipped, but forecasts a strong recovery in the three-month period running to December as advertising spends rise on account of a prosperous festive season.

    The company, which runs English and Hindi news channels NDTV 24X7 and NDTV India, has posted a net loss of Rs 342.7 million compared to a loss of Rs 118.5 million in the earlier year.

    Income from operations for the quarter under review slid to Rs 656.5 million, down 8.39 per cent as compared to the year-ago revenue of Rs 716.6 million.

    Operating loss (from operations before other income, interest and exceptional items) stood at Rs 298.3 million, as against Rs 75.8 million in the previous year.

    “It has been a bad quarter generally for everybody in the news business from a revenue perspective. In the earlier year, some stability had come into the market in the second quarter. But the good news is that there seems to be a strong recovery in the third quarter coinciding with the festive season,” says NDTV Group CEO KVL Narayan Rao.

    NDTV‘s standalone expenses rose 22.05 per cent to Rs 982 million, mainly due to distribution expense. “Overall, costs are under control. The quarter saw a rise mainly on account of distribution expense,” explains Rao.  
         
      Meanwhile on a consolidated basis, NDTV’s net loss narrowed to Rs 676.3 million, from Rs 855.9 million in the year-ago period. However, the consolidated results for the year-ago period include the results of operations of Turner General Entertainment Networks (formerly NDTV Imagine) and its subsidiaries in which NDTV Group had diluted its holding to a minority stake on 23 February 2010. Thus, the company clarified that consolidated results for the quarter ended 30 September 2010 are not comparable with the corresponding previous period.

    Income from operations was at Rs 784.8 million, down from Rs 1.43 billion, while total expenses reduced from Rs 2.12 billion to Rs 1.44 billion.
     

  • Ayodhya verdict: Aaj Tak leads the pack

    Ayodhya verdict: Aaj Tak leads the pack

      MUMBAI: As the Allahabad High Court bench was reading out the verdict on India‘s most communally sensitive issue, the common man was hooked on to the news channels for getting updates.

    The result: a huge expansion in the news genre. The Hindi news space saw an unprecedented 132 per cent rise over the previous day to garner a genre share of 18.4 on 30 September. And in the All India market, the share of English news channels was 1.27 per cent, up 130.91 per cent from the trailing day.

    In the highly competitive ratings turf, it was also a time for news channels to score a point over their rival networks. The winners on that day, when the news genre saw an expansion, were Aaj Tak and CNN-IBN in Hindi and English language telecasts.

    As per Tam data (HSM, 15+), Aaj Tak commanded a channel share of 22.7 per cent among the Hindi news channels on 30 September, followed by Star News with 17.8 per cent share.

    India TV lost some of its share on the day of verdict (13.2%), as compared to preceding and following days. Zee News clocked 10.9 per cent share, followed by IBN7 with 9.3 per cent genre share (see chart for details).

    In the English news channel space, CNN-IBN led the flock with a 23.3 per cent share, according to Tam data for All India, 1 mn+ towns, 25+ years. Times Now was, however, in the closest possible race with CNN-IBN, enjoying a 23.2 per cent share.
            
      NDTV 24X7 remained at third spot with 19.4 per cent share, whereas News 9 dislodged Headlines Today for the particular day under review. The channel share of News 9 was 14.6 per cent, as compared to 11.4 per cent of TV Today Group’s English news channel.

    NewsX, which is soon to be changed into IMN News, saw a 67 per cent jump from its previous day viewership and clocked a channel share of 7.7 per cent.

    “The TV news genre saw a huge spike on the Ayodhya verdict day. The ratings indicate that the viewers were more interested in hard news that day,” says a media observer.